What's The Difference? - 3 Kinds of Apples

Pine Brand Apple Candy (3 Kinds) - Asian Food Market

Another item from my Asian Food Markets farewell-haul. (I miss them.) Last I heard, they were scouting new locations for a South Jersey store, but things have been pretty quiet. I hope for the best, but I fear that this might have been goodbye, for good. 

Contextually, this is easy to figure out. These are hard candies with different apple flavors, a pink, a red, and a gold. And since my hiatus, I still haven't learned to read Japanese, so we're going to be winging it a little in this one. I mean, I can tell it is three different varieties of apples, but I am not sure which ones and if these are region-specific.  Thanks to the almighty-Google, I was able to find this, which looks almost exactly the same, but the golden apple in the center (on the right) is replaced with a green one. Pretty sneaky, sis. I guess apple variety packs are this brand's thing? 

Since the top and bottom apple image are the same as the one found online, I can assume they are Johnathan Gold and Fuji. The gold is still a mystery, but I am going into this with some healthy skepticism. Will these actually taste any different? 

Twix, Two for Me - Where's the screw?

Twix Spread - Bed Bath & Beyond (Mini World Market) 

I picked this up at the mini World Market inside of our local Bed Bath and Beyond. I know I don't get out much, but when did that happen? (Not that I'm complaining.) I walked in to get a new bathmat and walked out with all kinds of neat snacks! I grabbed some mint Tim-Tams, some green tea, and this Twix spread. We have plenty of sweet spreads here in the USA, but I haven't seen this particular one, so I'm pretty excited. 

First off, the container threw me for a bit of a loop. I removed the plastic to open it and the cap instantly flipped right off and landed on the floor. There is nothing holding it on. No screw-style threading. It's just a simple plastic pop-top, like a can of Pringles or peanuts. It doesn't mess with the functionality of the product at all, but it's not something I am used to. The slight change in packaging made this feel like some kind of candle more than a food item, and the smell didn't help.

Funnel Cake Flavored Snack Balls: Because Everything is Better Ball Shaped?

Herr's Funnel Cake Flavored Snack Balls - Ollie's Bargain Outlet

No need to worry! These might be expired NOW, but they weren't back when I ate them. 

These pictures and notes were taken from November 4th. I actually have a bunch of half-started posts from the last few months I'll be finishing up, so keep that in mind before turning me over to the botulism police. 

Have you guys every been to Ollie's Bargain Outlet? Ollie's buys up all kinds of off-season stock (most recently all the leftover Toys R' Us) but they also get tons of junk food. I joke that it is where limited edition food goes to die, but it IS where limited edition food goes to die. The food related aisles are a seasonal graveyard. We're talking limited edition cereals, seasonal flavored Pop-Tarts, and quirky treats that maybe didn't do so well in grocery stores at full price, like these Funnel Cake Balls. 

Sweet, Spicy, & Sticky - A Good Combo?

Sweet & Fiery Fruit Gushers - Walmart

After falling in love with the recent influx of spicy sweet snacks, like the Sweet Heat Skittles and Starbursts I reviewed last year, I couldn't resist trying the trend in Gusher form. 

Design-wise, this product is sticking to the same guidelines as the "Sweet Heat" treats. We have a basic, black, backdrop with some hot rod style flames. It's simple, bold, and to the point. The black box definitely stands out among the cartoon-covered fruit snack boxes on the shelves, so even though I feel like it's a little "Blah" looking as far as packaging is concerned, it more than serves it purpose.    

Apparently Gushers, as a brand, do not vary their individual packet designs? If you look at the back panel there is some black stamped text claiming these are "Sweet Heat," but it's very easily ignored. (Interesting that the text says "Sweet Heat" and not Sweet & Fiery" like the box.) Keeping the pouches the same is a cost effective choice, for sure, but it also lends itself well to pranks. Think you're getting sweet, normal, Gushers? Think again! 

Inside the pouch are three different flavors:  

I'm Alive! - Posting 2 days a week!~ (Tuesday & Thursday)

Your eyes do not deceive you, I'm back. Again. 

After several years of posting every single day I dropped the ball, kept trying to pick it back up, only to drop it again. And again. I've lost count of how many "I'm back" posts I've written over the last 3 years.  

Food blogging makes me happy, so one of my resolutions is to pick it back up, but doing a post every single day is out of the question. In the past, I've stuck to an "all or nothing" mentality, where if I am not posting everyday, there is no point. Sticking to that does nothing but set me up for more failure, and food back-log hoarding. (Seriously. I have SO MUCH FOOD. #firstworldfailurefoodbloggerproblems.) My goal is to post twice a week, once I get that going at a steady pace I might add a day in here or there. After all, slow and steady wins the race.

I'll be posting something later today, to get the ball rolling, but (for now) I'll be posting every Tuesday and Thursday. I hope you guys are ready for some wacky (old) stuff because I have quite the backlog to work my way through. 

It's good to be back.  

  © Maria Smith http://poison-and-antidote.net

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Blueberries, Butts & Bubblegum

Lotte Fruity Bubble Gum Dispensers - Asian Food Markets 

Sometimes it's the subtle things that win me over. Sure this has cool packaging, but one little detail is all it took for me to toss this into my cart. Notice anything different between these two flavors?  

On the right, we have little gum-ghosts blowing bubbles shaped like blueberries, which just so happens to match the flavor of the candy inside. The peach gum-ghosts? They're blowing normal balloon-shaped bubbles. Why is that? Because if they were blowing up peaches it'd look like they were blowing up pink-hued bubble-butts...or worse. Part of me wishes they hadn't of caught that (the evil part), but my graphic design background wants to commend their design-team and their foresight. 

As it turns out, everything about this packaging is incredibly thoughtful. 

My FAVORITE Oreo of 2018! (& Why I Love Oreo Thins)

Pistachio Oreo Thins - Shop Rite $2.50 ea.

I am kicking myself. I have a jar filled with real pistachios sitting right on my kitchen counter that would have made these photos look fantastic...but I completely forgot about them until I was editing this post. I flirted with the idea of re-shooting just to satisfy my perfectionist nature....but we both know I barely blog as it is. If I buy another brand new unopened package just to re-shoot these pics...this is never getting written up. 

So, for my sake, imagine delicious pistachios, both shelled and un-shelled, sprinkled about these photos making me look like a domestic foodie goddess I aspire to be, not the frazzled sometimes-foodie I actually am. (Really living up to the name the past 2 years...)

With today's review, the title completely gives my opinion away, so there's no use dancing around it now. These are the best Oreo I have eaten all year.

Carbonated Matcha Soda?

Matcha Ramune - Rocket Fizz

We went to brunch the other day (which is the preppiest white-girl thing I have probably ever typed), and right next-door to our hipster brunch-oasis was a Rocket Fizz. In case you don't have them in your area, Rocket Fizz is a quirky candy and novelty product franchise that has all kinds of sodas, sweets, and squirrel underpants? Yeah, it's like the Spencer's gifts of snacks. All those crazy Chicken Wing flavored sodas and stuff you'd seen the guys on Wreckless Eating and Cult Moo drink? (Which are two of my favorite Youtube-foodie channels.) They've got it!

I wasn't too adventurous with my selections, so if you want to see some gross sodas, check out these videos, but I did pick up this matcha ramune. I've had tons of match flavored sweets over the years, but I've never had a matcha soda. This could be interesting...